How to manage a virtual team

Technology continues to change the way business is done, and along with improving communication and widening the market, it has allowed teams to achieve work that was never before possible. However, these achievements in work technology come with a unique set of challenges. Here are four rules for managing a virtual team.

1. Set expectations for communication while a virtual team generally allows workers some freedom in their work schedule, it’s important to set expectations for communicating with each other. “Maintain a regular meeting schedule, preferably at least once a week,” says Marjorie Asturias, president of Blue Volcano Media, a Dallas-based digital marketing agency. “Regular meetings are essential to ensuring that communications between managers and employees — as well as between employees themselves — remain open and productive. Your team is as important to the success of your business as your clients are, so stay in touch with them regularly.”

Aside from regular inter-office communication, maintain an open conversation between yourself and employees, and offer support. “You want to hire self-motivated employees who require minimal supervision, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need direction or any supervision,” Asturias says. “Don’t alienate them by ignoring their calls or texts — help them do the job you hired them to do, and make sure they know that you value their contributions to the company.”

Also, set boundaries for virtual workers, such as working regular hours instead of checking in around the clock. “Set acceptable business hours and encourage your team members to stick to them,” says Bethany Wilson, assistant general manager at Contemporary VA, a virtual assistant organization. “Challenge them to close their laptop when done working and not reply to business emails after hours.”

2. Act like a team although your team may be virtual, it’s important to keep employees connected to each other and to the business’ goals. “Keep everyone posted on what’s going on in the company, even those things that may not directly relate to their respective job descriptions,” Asturias says. “Our weekly meetings include not just updates on projects but also prospective clients, sales calls, marketing initiatives and new job opportunities in-house. We also make sure to leave time to just chat and ‘shoot the breeze.’ Since we don’t have the ‘water cooler’ moments that office mates take for granted but which are so important for team building and fostering teamwork and collegiality, these virtual chats are great ways to get to know each other and nurture a sense of collaboration and partnership.”

To encourage team members to get to know each other better and to use their strengths, try dividing employees into smaller teams. “It’s easy to get lost in a sea of people, especially if that sea is a virtual one,” Wilson says. “In order to avoid this, split your larger team up into smaller teams of people with complementary skills. Encourage each individual to engage fully with their team. Challenge them to brainstorm, refine their skills and troubleshoot issues as a team. When each individual is connected with their team, they stay inspired and motivated.”

3. Rely on technology and tools a virtual team will naturally rely on technology to communicate and work efficiently. Be sure that you’re using the best tools to meet your communication needs, and experiment with different platforms for different tasks. For instance, Wilson says, “Use an online meeting platform to conduct your team meetings. With this you are able to screen share, video chat, voice chat, do question polls and record the call for those unable to attend.”

While technology is vital to virtual teams, human interaction is also important. “If discussing a sensitive issue and your email can be easily misunderstood, choose to pick up the phone instead,” Wilson says. “Better yet, schedule a video chat instead. Video chat allows us to bring body language back into virtual communication. But remember: Respect your peer’s time by scheduling these interactions in advance. Unplanned phone and video calls throughout the day can easily sidetrack even the most efficient worker.”

4. Stay hands-on with employee performance working virtually is a huge perk to many employees but can be a problem for managers if performance isn’t monitored. “One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in managing a virtual team is that it can make it really easy for an underperforming employee to fly under the radar and thus potentially hurt the company,” Asturias says. “I’ve since learned that whether it’s a problem with motivation, overwork, stress or just plain laziness, managers need to have a private conversation with that employee as soon as possible. You can’t wait for the right moment or when you have time. By the time it’s obvious to you, it may be too late, and that person may already have found another job, affected everyone else’s morale and/or wasted a lot of company time and resources. Address the challenge right away and find out how you and that employee can work together to get him or her back on track.”